Charmed jeweller wins top NSW business women’s award
24 Sep 2010
24 September 2010: A Danish-born entrepreneur who introduced the popular PANDORA collectible charm bracelet to Australia was named today as the 2010 Telstra New South Wales Business Woman of the Year.
Karin Adcock flew to Copenhagen in 2004 to successfully bid for the Australian distribution rights for the international jewellery brand founded in Denmark in 1982.
As Managing Director of PANDORA Jewelry Australia, she has grown the agency from a garage in Avalon to a highly-profitable business headquartered in Warriewood with 280 staff, 34 branded concept stores and 732 points of sale in Australia and New Zealand.
Ms Adcock also won the Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award at the sixteenth Telstra New South Wales Business Women’s Awards which were announced today in Sydney.
Other winners were French-born Corinne Bot, owner of the Polyglot Group in Glebe; Margaret Flynn, CEO of CentaCare Wilcannia-Forbes in Forbes; Marnie Douglas, owner of Ergoworks Physiotherapy and Consulting in Sydney; and Lauren Brown, owner of Pulse Marketing Group in North Sydney.
Telstra Chief Marketing Officer and Telstra Business Women’s Awards Ambassador Kate McKenzie said the winners of the New South Wales Awards were successful business women whose leadership qualities and achievements would provide inspiration for women across the State.
“Karin Adcock demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and took calculated risks when establishing her business,” Ms McKenzie said.
“The judges described her as an inspirational employer with sound financial acumen who has a growth strategy in place, long term vision and an understanding of where her business is headed.”
Karin Adcock moved to Australia from Denmark in 1995 and ran five small businesses with husband Brook Adcock before taking on the challenge of marketing PANDORA jewellery to Australian retailers. Ms Adcock received what she describes as “the ultimate endorsement of success” in 2008 when PANDORA Denmark bought a 60 per cent share in the business.
Ms Adcock said: “PANDORA has been successful because of the five 'P's. It is a great product, well priced, well positioned and excellently promoted. We have employed great people who are passionate about the part they play in the success of PANDORA.”
The CEO of Hudson Australia/New Zealand, Mark Steyn, said Hudson has been a very proud sponsor of the Awards for the past nine years. “It is a privilege to be associated with an event that showcased the calibre and quality of talented women working across Australia,” he said.
“Employment participation by women has been increasing over the past 40 years but it is still well below the rate for men and lower here than in many other developed countries. That is why we are keen to recognise the vital role that women play in the Australian workforce. This year’s line-up of finalists in the Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award, including Karin Adcock, is an exemplary group of Australia’s finest business women and we commend them on their achievements.”
The New South Wales winners proceed to the national finals of the 2010 Telstra Business Women’s Awards which will be announced in Melbourne on 11 November. They will join an alumni of more than 430 winners of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards since the program was launched in 1995.
Winners of the 2010 Telstra New South Wales Business Women’s Awards are:
Telstra New South Wales Business Woman of the Year
Karin Adcock, Pandora Jewelry, Warriewood.
Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award
Corinne Bot, Polyglot Group Pty Ltd, Glebe.
As a part-time consultant, French-born Corinne Bot identified a niche in the human resources market while sourcing staff for French businesses in Australia. So in 1995 she established recruitment business Polyglot Group which provides customised multicultural and multilingual solutions to international companies investing in Australia and Australian companies expanding overseas. Ms Bot, an advisor for French Foreign Trade, has achieved average business growth of 30 per cent a year and expanded throughout Australia.
Hudson Private and Corporate Sector Award
Karin Adcock, Pandora Jewelry, Warriewood.
White Pages Community and Government Award
Margaret Flynn, CentaCare Wilcannia-Forbes, Forbes.
As CEO of Catholic welfare organisation CentaCare Wilcannia-Forbes, Loreto nun Sister Margaret Flynn works to improve the quality of life in rural and Indigenous communities. The former school principal and family counsellor established the CentaCare agency in the State’s western region with an annual budget of $3000 – it now stands at $16 million. A vigorous champion of the rights of women and Indigenous communities, Sister Margaret leads a staff of 125 - 85 per cent are women and 20 per cent are Indigenous.
Nokia Business Innovation Award
Marnie Douglas, Ergoworks Physiotherapy and Consulting, Sydney.
Marnie Douglas founded Ergoworks, a physiotherapy clinic at Circular Quay in 2003. After treating many patients with injuries related to poor ergonomic (workstation) setup, the physiotherapist expanded her business to include a national ergonomics consultancy that assists companies to manage staff wellbeing. Ms Douglas has developed an online workstation assessment tool, ErgoAssess, to determine the risk of injury for people using a computer and therefore minimise workplace injuries and absenteeism.
marie claire Young Business Women’s Award
Lauren Brown, Pulse Marketing Group, North Sydney.
After five years as a marketing consultant at McDonald’s Australia and a short stint as marketing director for a food retailer, Lauren Brown established her own consultancy Pulse Marketing Group. The North Sydney business has grown to employ 14 staff, attract blue chip clients and win an international award for a TV campaign for Natural Gas. As Managing Director, Ms Brown developed a product that streamlines the preparation of tailored packages of marketing and creative requirements for small business clients.
Further information on the Telstra Business Women’s Awards can be found at www.telstrabusinesswomensawards.com
Media contact:
Natasha Ciesielski
Lighthouse Communications
Ph: 02 9262 3868; M: 0428 480 710
Telstra:
Karina Keisler
0419 523 776
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Telstra Business Women's Awards Network